Beecher Finishes Emotion-Filled Run with Title #9
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
April 10, 2021
EAST LANSING – Eight wasn’t enough for the Flint Beecher boys basketball team.
The Bucs won the program’s ninth MHSAA Finals championship Saturday with an impressive 75-47 victory over Iron Mountain in the Division 3 Final at the Breslin Center.
Beecher moved into a tie for second with Detroit Country Day and Muskegon Christian/Western Michigan Christian for all-time boys basketball championships won. River Rouge tops all schools with 14.
“We just wanted to come out and establish our defense,” Bucs coach Mike Williams said. “They prepared and fought, and they executed. I couldn’t be more proud.”
Beecher had last won a Finals title in 2017. The Bucs’ only loss this winter was to Division 1 contender Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in the second game of the season.
This was an emotional title run for Williams, whose father passed away nearly a year ago to the championship game date from COVID-19.
Senior Keyon Menifield Jr. lost his grandfather the day after due to COVID-19 complications.
“It’s extremely special and these kids have been my therapy,” Williams said. “This has been a long year for me and my family, and we had some other kids deal with it as well. This is a part of the healing for me and the community and the people that have gone through this pandemic. I’m just glad we got to the finish line.”
Menifield Jr. scored a game-high 37 points – the ninth-most in an MHSAA Final. He was 17 of 27 from the field with only one 3-pointer and two free throws contributing to his total.
“We locked down our defense and we knew we had to get stops, close out and get rebounds,” Menifield Jr. said. “I had to attack, and I had to make sure I got in the lane and made shots. The team that makes the most shots wins the battle.”
Williams, whose team won its last 15 games with only two opponents coming within single digits, said Menifield Jr. hasn’t received the attention he deserves.
“I’ve been saying all along that he is either the most underrated player or the best player in the state of Michigan, period,” he said. “I don’t know anyone who wants to guard him, and I’ve talked to college coaches who have not recruited him and told them they were crazy.”
The Bucs also were able to contain Iron Mountain senior standout Foster Wonders, who scored more than 2,000 career points.
He was held to 13 points and didn’t score until the third quarter.
“The best compliment I can give a player is I would pay money to watch him play,” Williams said. “That kid can play, and we knew that we had to neutralize him one way or the other for us to have a chance to win.”
The Bucs held a commanding 38-19 at halftime. They led by as many as 34 in the second half en route to the decisive victory.
The Mountaineers simply couldn't match Flint Beecher’s size, speed and athleticism. The Bucs’ full-court pressure forced 20 turnovers
“All the credit goes to Flint Beecher,” Iron Mountain coach Harvey Johnson said. “They were tough, and they did to us what no other team could do completely. They’re quick, they’re fast and their press and ability to create off the dribble bothered us. He had his team well-prepared.”
Iron Mountain finished as Division 3 runner-up for the second time in three seasons, and Saturday’s loss was only the Mountaineers’ second over the last two seasons. They were 21-1 last year before the pandemic halted the postseason.
“These eight guys were outstanding, and we beat some great teams to get here,” Johnson said. “I think they represented themselves, our school, our community, and the entire Upper Peninsula with great class. They worked hard and overcame a ton of adversity like every other athlete in the state did to get here. Not many kids get to play here, and we were blessed to be able to do that.”
Jurgen Kleiman added 12 points and eight rebounds for Iron Mountain, while Dante Basanese chipped in 11 points.
PHOTOS: (Top) Beecher's Carmelo Harris makes his move toward the lane during Saturday's Division 3 Final. (Middle) The Bucs' Taylin Muldrew (13) gets a hand up as Iron Mountain's Foster Wonders looks to pass. (Click for more from Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)
Eves Helps Hillsdale Keep Expectations High
December 14, 2018
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
HILLSDALE – Brad Felix found out as much about his 2018-19 Hillsdale boys basketball team in its first loss of the season Thursday as he did during its surprising 4-0 start.
The Hornets returned only one starter and just a few players that had much to do with last year’s Lenawee County Athletic Association championship team. But that hasn’t deterred Felix’s 18th squad at Hillsdale from being tied atop the LCAA and looking much better than it did on paper coming into the season.
“No one picked us to win the league, and I don’t blame them,” said Felix, who is inching closer to 300 wins as Hillsdale’s head coach. “I get it. But we haven’t lowered our expectations. We’ve done really well the last eight to 10 years. The kids expect to win. Nobody wants to be the team that goes from league champions to winning only five games.”
Thursday, the Hornets fell behind early and leading scorer Spencer Eves was on the bench with foul trouble against Brooklyn Columbia Central, one of the preseason favorites to win this year’s LCAA title. The Hornets, who came into the game 4-0, stayed in it with solid defense. When Eves hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, Hillsdale erased what had been a 35-21 deficit. CC held on for the win, but Hillsdale showed it’s not going to roll over this season for anyone.
“I think I’m more impressed, and proud, of my guys rather than surprised,” Felix said of the start to the season. “They still embrace the role of being champions and aren’t willing to just lie down and not compete.”
Felix and Hillsdale have been a model of consistency, especially in recent years. The Upper Peninsula native has coached one level or another since 1991 at Hillsdale, where he’s led both the girls and boys varsity programs. The Hornets boys have won six of the past seven LCAA championships and 10 league titles and eight District championships total under Felix.
Another thing he’s done is coach a lot of talented, high-scoring players. Most recently, Tyler Laser, Martin Peterson and Bryce Drews have donned the Hornets uniform and put up big numbers in the scoring column. This year, it’s Eves taking the reins and running with them in a big way.
“He just has that mindset that it’s his team, his time,” Felix said of the 6-foot-1 senior captain. “He’s embraced that role of a scorer. I thought we could get 15 or 20 from him. I wasn’t expecting him to be averaging 33 points a game.”
Eves has been outstanding, scoring 28 in the season opener against Jonesville and 35 against Leslie a couple of nights later. In LCAA play, he has had games of 37 against Hudson, 45 against Blissfield and 22 against Columbia Central. He’s scored more than 60 percent of his team’s points this season.
“He’s shooting the ball better than he ever has,” Felix said. “And, he really does a nice job of getting to the free throw line.”
Eves already has shot 71 free throws. He’s averaging 33.4 points a game and has eight 3-pointers. One point that makes Eves scoring so interesting is he’s really the Hornets’ point guard.
“I brought him up to the varsity his freshman year because I knew he was going to be my point guard for the next three years,” Felix said. “I wanted him to learn. He didn’t get a ton of playing time as a freshman, but he learned a lot.”
Eves did average 12 points a game last year, but even he admits to being somewhat surprised to be averaging more than 20 points more a game at this point in the season.
“I just want to go out there and do the things that give us a chance to win,” Eves said. “I’ve played with a lot of great players here. They’ve all been great mentors to me. Now, I’m trying to carry on that tradition.”
Eves said the success of the program over the last decade carries over from year to year.
“Coming up through the system, I think it definitely helps,” he said. “We have had a lot of success.”
Against Blissfield, Eves was nearly unstoppable, scoring 45 of Hillsdale’s 71 points. He made 15 field goals and was 12-for-15 from the charity stripe. Remarkably, through five games, only one other Hillsdale player has reached double figures in scoring in a game – Coby Nash scored 10 in the season opener.
These early-season wins will only help Hillsdale gain confidence as the season goes on. Besides Eves, other seniors on the squad are Nick Baxter, Noah Lopresto and Nash. Hillsdale also has a freshman and one sophomore, Felix’s son Adam.
“We have a lot of role players,” Brad Felix said. “The guys know their roles. They are buying into those roles. We’ve played well. We’re going to keep getting better.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO: Hillsdale’s Spencer Eves brings the ball upcourt.